Danny Gray Man
by No.311
Summary: What starts with an unusual enemy and a headache, ends up throwing Danny in another world-threatening plot. See how Danny travels back in time to the war between akuma and exorcists, and how much significance his actions will have!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

_CHAPTER 1: Prologue._

* * *

With a scream, Dan was sucked in the thermos. Danny stood there for a little while, happy about his victory, when he remembered about the other pressing matter.

"Oh no!" He turned around, just in time to see the cracks forming on the containers of the nasty sauce, his family, Tucker and Sam and Lancer strapped to it with no means of escape. He began to run towards it, trying to transform, but failing.

"I can't go ghost!" He said to himself, slightly panicked, just before he tripped.

"Noooooo!" But it was too late. And Danny knew it was, for he stayed on the ground, sweating, and looking at his family in horror.

The nasty burger exploded.

Danny was blasted away full force by the explosion. The thermos got loose and was slammed into a building at the opposite side of the road, breaking the thermos, and setting Dan free. Danny himself fell on the ground a few meters from where he was blasted away.

He quickly stood up and began to run, ignoring the pain. He had to get away, or the explosion would catch up to him. Or worse, Dan would. He had to escape, and fast.

He ran until he couldn't run anymore. He had escaped the explosion. It was then that he realised the weight of the events, and he broke down, sobbing.

"They're dead. They're all dead!" He started crying full-force, completely ignoring his surroundings.

Until he heard _that_ voice.

"And you know what to do, don't you? You'll go to Vlad, and all will be well… for me."

"I will never go to Vlad, and you know that!"

"Then where will you go?"

Of that, Danny had no idea, to be frank. Would he go to ask Clockwork whether he would turn back time? No. Clockwork tried to kill him, and while he didn't want to become Dan, he wasn't ready to die either. He had to live, for his family, for his friends… and for Mr. Lancer.

"I don't know, but I won't go to Vlad!" He transformed into Phantom. In the back of his mind, he found it funny that only now he could transform, but he pushed it away.

The weeks after that, Danny would live as a nomad. He didn't come to the reading of the will of his parents, because Vlad was there, and he was sure that if Vlad got hold of him, there would be no escape. He was officially declared dead in Amity after three weeks, for his body had never been found, even though the others thought he died in the explosion with his parents, friends and Mr. Lancer.

Danny visited a few major cities in the world, like New York, Paris and London, and a few places in the ghost zone. He also discovered some new places in the ghost zone that he didn't know before.

However, he never settled down. He was afraid that Dan would catch up to him and destroy whatever he had built. For that same reason, he shied away from human contact.

And so the story starts, when once upon a time, Danny was flying into the Ghost Zone…

* * *

_**Hello, the author, No.311 here. I'm going to explain some things about this story. (LONG AUTHOR'S NOTE ALERT)**_

_**1. I have not abandoned Blue Pirates.**_

_**2. The story is rated T. There will be deaths.**_

_**3. I'm not good with genre tags. For now, I've set them to Horror and Angst, because I thought horror fits the -Man universe pretty well, and Angst sounds nice. Kidding, I do have a general idea, but nothing solid about what Angst is.**_

_**So the tags don't necessarily have to match with the contents of the story, and if they don't, please tell me.**_

_**4. I have a lay-out completely made for the story, so that I can work more efficient. Still, I will not post the whole story at once, so that I can make corrections as I write it. But it should mean that I can update this story faster than I can update Blue Pirates, for I invent that story as I write it.**_

_**5. If there are author's notes, they are at the bottom.**_

_**6. I'm open for constructive criticism.**_

_**7. If you like it, or have questions, review. I always reply.**_

_**That was it. I'll give you the next chapter too, I'm not cruel. Enjoy! This will hopefully be the longest authors note in the story.**_

**No.311**


	2. Chapter 2: The Akuma

_CHAPTER 2: The Akuma_

* * *

Being on the run was harder than it looked. Danny had experienced that first hand. He had been chased from restaurants, stolen from markets, and over all had an hard time. It didn't help that the GIW blamed Phantom of the explosion of the Nasty Burger. Every city in America had been given a code red alarm, and was on high alert for the "Ectoplasmic menace". It made travelling as a halfa a lot harder, especially when they started to check everyone for 'Ectoplasmic Influences', fearing that Phantom may have had the idea of entering cities by overshadowing people.

A small part of his mind could relate with Dan. Even though Dan was already evil when he was created, and he already wanted to destroy humanity, there were probably not many other options open for him. In the end, he moved to Europe, and started travelling there. He even found a job when he was in Rome, but he soon had to quit it, for he had to move to escape Dan.

Now, He was in the Ghost Zone, like he had been for two days already. He had entered the Ghost Zone through his parents' portal, which was, for unknown reasons, still in the lab beneath Fenton Works. Danny did have suspicions, of course. The most realistic one was that the GIW had not been able to override the DNA-lock, so they left it there. His parents were the leading experts on ghost hunting technology after all. The GIW had frequently ripped off his parents' inventions.

He had disguised himself with a hoodie and a new set of clothes as soon as he had beaten the line of ghosts that had been waiting to fight him. He didn't want to fight right now. He was even secretly hoping for a portal to take him away to unknown lands, preferably lands in the 21th century, apart from America. Maybe he could build a new life then, for it was almost impossible for Dan to find him if he took a random portal…

But something was keeping him here, the fear of the unknown. What if he wound up in an alternate reality, where his friends and parents were still alive, but not as the people he had known them to be? What if he met his ancestor in the past, and changed the future? What if he ended up right under the GIW's noses?

No, he wouldn't try the portal just yet, he wasn't that desperate, he decided by himself. But his thoughts were abruptly stopped when he bumped into something.

"Ow, crud." Danny held his head in his hands. Whatever it was, it was hard. He looked up, to see…

A normal human.

"Huh?"

And not one he had seen before.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

The human, looked in front of him blankly, like Danny wasn't there. It had been muttering too.

Danny inched closer, to hear what the person was muttering.

"…ll….i…k…k…ll…..kill…..Kill….Kill…."

Before Danny could get away, The human suddenly shouted: "KILL!" Then it happened: The human morphed into some sort of balloon, but one that was filled with cannons and had a face, a face with an expression of a permanent silent scream and an upside down star on his forehead.

This was a prime example of a level 1 akuma, a machine in a human's body. Of course, Danny didn't know that. He was busy enough with evading and repelling the bullets that the akuma shot at him. At the same time, he tried to destroy the monster with ectoblasts and ectowaves, though he primarly tried to avoid the bullets. For some reason he got a nasty feeling when he looked at them.

But it was useless. The waves slashed into the monster, and the blasts caused dents, but not nearly enough. The only thing he had left to do was the ghostly wail. But if he used that, he would be more vulnerable after it. He didn't have much choice though. He was getting slower, and his shields, which he occasionally used to block a few bullets, were getting weaker.

He sucked his lungs full of air, and shouted like his life depended on it. It came out as a wail, a ghostly wail. Danny saw the monster was in pain, howling against the wail as if that could stop it, but Danny went through with it. At the very end of the wail, he transformed back into a human, letting out a sigh of relief. But when the smoke cleared, Danny saw that the akuma was still there. Scratched, bruised, slashed, but still there.

Danny almost panicked. He panicked even more when he saw a stray bullet hit an ectopus that was hovering by. Immediately it started screaming, and multiple pentacles appeared on his body, more and more, until the ghost vaporised in thin air.

He quickly transformed back into Phantom, and blocked a few bullets. But his energy was rapidly depleting. Black spots danced before his eyes.

"NO!"

Danny had never been more happy when he heard that voice. Although it wasn't too hard: He had never been happy before when he heard that voice. He evaded another bullet, but suddenly felt pain blossom on his forehead. He had been too busy evading, and lost his sight on his surroundings. Because of that, he had just flown into a rock.

Danny watched Dan arrive, and blast the akuma back. But soon, Danny lost his struggle against the pain and fatigue, and passed out.

(+++++++)

Danny woke up. He had some trouble recollecting what happened, but he quickly remembered all of it. The monster, the ectopus, the pentacles, Dan, the rock…

Dan! He quickly sat up, and looked around. Dan sat right next to him. He immediately glared at him.

"Now, now, don't give me a glare, I saved you, after all." Dan had obviously inherited some of Vlad's patented fake gentlemanly manners.

"Why did you save me, then?" Danny was now trying to stop the light bleeding of his head.

"Because, if you died, I won't happen." He scolded Danny. Danny thought a bit about that statement.

"But I never went to Vlad, so you didn't happen. How're you still here?"

"Come, come, Danny, I thought you knew better than that. Just like all ways lead to Rome, there are multiple ways of becoming me. And I'm here to ensure them."

"Well, I promise you I won't ever let you happen. So don't get used to existing." Danny snapped at Dan, partly because he was angry at himself for letting himself be saved by his Ultimate Enemy. Before Dan could react to that, he flew away.

Dan saw Danny go. He sighed. He felt his existence flickering, like it had done since he had been beaten by his former self. It was as if something was telling him that something would happen soon. He couldn't let that happen, so he took off after Danny.

Danny, however, still had no idea. His first concern was finding something with which he could bandage his head. It was hard to fly away with blood in his eyes after all.


	3. Chapter 3: Light in the Head

_CHAPTER 3: Just a bit Light in the Head_

* * *

Skulker's day had been bad. He had still not found the whelp, his suit broke down, and when he had repaired it, Technus had come by to make fun of him and his "Low-tech" suit. Maybe he should incorporate Technus in his suit sometimes. That would probably teach him a lesson. Of course he wasn't really planning to do this, because who would want a suit who threw your plans at your enemies in a fit of pride? And what would they call themselves? Skulk-Tech? Preposterous.

Of course that all changed when the whelp actually _came_ to him. It was a miracle! But Skulker wasn't above making use of miracles.

"So you give your struggle up, whelp? You finally realised that I _will_ have your pelt on my wall?" The whelp had a strange bleeding wound on his forehead, and that meant he had had a fight already and wasn't at the pinnacle of his strength. Good.

"Never gonna happen. I just want some information, and you were the first ghost I saw that I kind of know." The whelp answered, looking kind of awkward. So the whelp was scared. Good.

"And what makes you think I will give you that information, when I could just as well capture you now?" Skulker allowed a small smirk on his robotic face.

Danny sighed. "Alright, fine. But if I win, can I ask you some questions?" Was that annoyance? Was he looking down on the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter? It was as if he was sure he would beat him!

"Don't you get cocky, whelp!" Skulker ended the conversation with a blast from one of his ectoplasm blasters. No matter what Technus would say, nothing fought better in his opinion than his trusty suit. It was such a shame that the whelp dodged his blast.

Then his prey started throwing ice rays. Skulker made sure to blast those with a few blasts of his own to negate them. Meanwhile, he targeted Phantom with his other arm and shot a net. Yes, the net was immediately hit by an ectoblast, but Skulker made use of this opportunity to make sure he was out of the way. He was just aiming another net when an ectoblast hit his robotic torso, which started to malfunction and spark in the hit area.

"What's wrong, Skulker, forgot to power up your suit?" Phantom shouted at him, while he wiped the blood off his forehead. It was one of the ghost-boy's usual tactics, bantering so that the other party becomes confused, or enraged. But Skulker already knew about the trap, so he ignored Phantom.

Instead, he answered with another blast to the ghost child's head. Although he had aimed it well, Phantom dodged it. He used the time it took his enemy to dodge, to get rid of the ice on his body, and quickly flew to the side, so that he had the element of surprise for the coming few moments.

His prey was a bit disorientated when he looked back, but he, Skulker, was hit anyway by a stray shot of ectoplasm (it was above his pride to think anything else of it). The whelp reached to his side, where he normally kept that containing device of his, and Skulker laughed when he saw his opponent flinch after noticing that the device wasn't there.

"Not today, whelp!" And he shot a cubical device at Phantom. But Phantom quickly flew to the side before the containment unit could catch him. It was clear to Skulker that he had to use other methods to catch his prey, for these methods weren't going to work. But before he could think of anything, he was hit full-force by another blast, and slammed into a rock, which caused his suit to malfunction completely. That meant that he could do nothing about the fact that Phantom was separating his head from the rest of his body.

Well, at least he had a good fight. Next time he would certainly catch the whelp.

"Okay, now it's time for some questions." The whelp announced, a smirk of triumph on his face, causing Skulker to growl.

(+++++++)

Nobody could deny that Danny was having fun with Skulker. Then again, who wouldn't in his situation. Before him sat one, tiny, green blob of a Greatest Hunter in the Ghost Zone, squeaking about revenge. Although the blob was fierce in his statements, his tiny body and squeaky voice rendered any attempts to take him seriously useless..

Danny let it go on for a few minutes, wiped even more blood off his forehead, and started his interrogation.

"Skulker." The blob snapped his head… body… back to Danny's direction.

"Yes, whelp?" The blob was glaring at Danny now.

"I still want to ask you something." The blob now sighed, and muttered about more revenge. But right now, he (Skulker, the Greatest Hunter in the Ghost Zone) was at the mercy of his enemy, and a quite strong one too.

"Ask, then." The blob said.

Danny thought a little bit about how to ask his question.

"You see, earlier, I met some strange ghost, and I wanted to ask if you knew anything about it."

The interest of Skulker rose immediately. He was a collector of the strange and the unique after all.

"Can you describe the ghost?"

"Well, at first he seemed human, but then he transformed into some strange monster, it looked like a light bulb or a balloon with cannons all over the place."

Skulker could do something with that information, but he needed a bit more.

"Did it have any unique features?"

"Yes, the human face was like it was silently screaming and it had an upside down star –a pentacle?– on his forehead."

Now Skulker got a slightly bad feeling. He had heard rumors about this… creature, but he still needed one more fact to ensure he was right.

"And the cannons? Was there anything about them?"

"Yeah, when one of the bullets hit a stray ectopus, it got a lot of those pentacles all over it's body and it dissolved."

This was bad. If there was any truth in whatever rumor he heard, this was bad.

"And did you destroy it?" Skulker hoped he had.

"No. Well, technically I did. But not really."

"But is it destroyed?"

"Yes."

Skulker, relieved, released the breath he had been holding.

"I've heard rumors about those… monsters, whelp. About the Holy War in the human world. I didn't exist as a ghost yet around that time, but the ghosts who were are happy they are gone. They are called 'Akuma', and they are weapons of mass destruction. They were used by the side of the Noah in the Holy War, and they were made by an unwilling soul, a human body, and the machine itself. Luckily, the Noah side lost to the exorcists, people gifted power to fight the Noah. Those were Dark Times for the human world, although, as I heard, many people were unaware of the war."

"How many of them were there?"

"Millions."

Danny was shocked, he was almost beaten by one of them, not to mention millions of them. He would have to get stronger.

"Varying in degrees of strength, the higher the level, the stronger it was. I think you described a level one."

Danny's eyes almost bulged out of his sockets. Not literally, of course.

"Luckily they're almost all gone now. I've never met one myself. Otherwise I would probably have it as a pelt on my wall!" Skulker squeak-laughed. Danny was a bit disgusted by this, but mostly relieved. He didn't have to fight those things again, with some luck.

Skulker saw that the ghost-child was distracted, and used this opportunity to get away. Little did he know that this was the last time he would see his prey for a while…

(+++++++)

Danny was getting dizzy, he had been flying around to evade Dan, who was getting closer, and find a bandage for his head, but he didn't have any luck. He was also puzzled, didn't he heal faster in his ghost form? It should have been a scab by now. Holding one of his hands against his forehead, Danny's vision began to swim. He blinked, and it was back to normal.

This was getting strange. He hadn't heard anything from Skulker about something like this, he needed more information to stop this strange wound. He flew longer, but he couldn't think of any ghost that would know anything. Well, frankly, it was hard to think at all, he was getting more sluggish the longer he flew around. He shook his head, and tried to regain focus. It worked, albeit only a little. But not for long. Within short time, he was slower than ever, trying to keep hold of his consciousness. He refused to die from blood loss. But his fight was lost, and he lost his consciousness. His last thought was 'Not again…'

While he was unconscious, his body drifted through the Ghost Zone, until it suddenly drifted to a certain pentacle-shaped portal, as if it was pulled to it.

(+++++++)

When he woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was in human form. The second thing he noticed was that he was being dragged by someone. The third thing he noticed were the carriages and the old fashioned clothes from the people he saw.

Where was he? Not a clue. He had to find that out, and he needed to bandage his head. But when he felt his forehead with his hand, he noticed that it was already bandaged.

"Yes, I bandaged it, it looked like a nasty wound, sir."

Danny turned his head, and saw the face of a white-haired kid. He had a strange marking over his left eye, just like a pentacle. Normally, he wouldn't have cared, but the akuma had a pentacle like that on his forehead, so he made sure to be on edge.

"Where am I?"

"You're in Bristol, in England."

"Where are you taking me?"

"I was taking you to a hospital. I found you passed out at the side of the road, and you were way too cold."

He had been unconscious. Danny figured it was because of the head wound. How he got in England was another matter entirely. It was probably because of the Ghost Zone portals. That meant that he almost certainly had gone to the past too, seeing all those carriages and old fashioned things. Also, he had to get moving. Dan had been so close when he passed out, chances were he was here too. But first the year, luckily he saw a few minutes back. He didn't want to ask his saviour, he wanted to stay inconspicuous right now.

"Well, sorry, but no hospitals for me. I'll think I'll manage from here on."

"If you say so." The boy said. Danny noticed the boy also had a strange hand, with a cross embedded into it.

"Thanks anyways. My name is Danny." He said as soon as he was set down on the ground again.

"Allen Walker, nice to meet you. Maybe we'll meet again."

"Until next time then, Allen." Danny walked away and made his way to the kiosk. Even though he already knew he was in the past, seeing that he was in the 1900's was still something that made his mouth fall open.

He had probably gotten here through a portal in the Ghost Zone. Danny panicked slightly and had the urge to go and search for a way back quickly, until he caught himself. Although he normally would do that, he had nobody to go back to. So why wouldn't he stay for a while? He could get a fresh new start too, and if he was quick he could maybe even shake off Dan for years! Then he would be able to come to terms with what happened on his own, at least. There weren't any ghosts in sight too, so he didn't have to worry about them…

It was decided. He would stay, at least for now.

And so, Danny set off. The first thing he had to do was finding some place to eat and sleep. Then he would go looking for something to do in this new world.

(++++++++)

There was his next target. A boy. He looked around fourteen, fifteen. Perfect. Young people weren't suspected as fast as adults.

The earl giggled. How he liked his job. He didn't do it for the killing per say, because all of mankind descended from the Noah's, and he felt at least enough kinship to not feel happy because he killed one. That didn't stop him to be happy for the creation of another weapon for his cause.

...

Okay, maybe he did like killing normal humans, if only just a little. But, then again, they were soooo corrupted! Nothing at all like they should be!

Yes, mankind had been corrupted, in his eyes. It was time start all over again. He giggled again at the thought. If only it was that simple. Several of these corrupted beings didn't share his view. They said they fought for God, but were blind to the fact that they were just as monstrous as he was. His expression contorted in a sneer. That's why he needed his weapons.

It was a bonus that all of his weapons got different abilities, so he felt like a collector while making them. And he enjoyed that feeling.

But that was enough, he had to be quick. While the boy clearly hadn't overcome his loss yet, the call was number than usual, like he was coping, or repressing it. Chances were that he would return home with one akuma less than expected. Last time that happened was when that boy Allen had awoken his 'innocence'.

The earl moved into view, and came eye to eye with Danny Fenton.

* * *

_**And so Danny comes in the -Man universe. I have my doubts about Allen's character, I find him hard to write, so please give your opinions. Also, if you have questions, or critique: Give them. That way, I can at least learn from mistakes.**_

_**If you liked it, let me know as well. It's good motivation**_

_**I would like to thank all of you who have already favorited and followed.**_

_**That's it for now,**_

_**No.311**_


	4. Chapter 4: The Millenium Earl

_Chapter Four: The Millenium Earl_

* * *

Danny Fenton stared into the eyes of the man, at least where the man's eyes should be, because they were concealed by some small glasses. His attention dropped to the insanely big smile a few times, but for some reason his eyes always returned to the man's 'eyes'. Why would a man with such obvious insanity need to conceal his eyes?

"Good evening, my dear boy... All alone, I see?" The teeth never broke apart. Maybe it was a mask, that would explain some things…

He really shouldn't be talking to the man. "Yes, I am."

"No… Parents, brothers, sisters, mates, no girlfriend?"

"…No…" The reason he came here in the first place came crashing back in his thoughts. No, he was alone. They were dead.

"I've seen that look on your face earlier, you know. Why don't you…" The man suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, but wait, I haven't even introduced myself yet! _I_ am the Millennium Earl." He brought one of his hands up to his hat, as if he wanted to take it off, but at the last moment he changed the movement and, with a graceful swing of his arm, tipped his hat to Danny.

"And _you_ are…?"

"Danny."

"_Good_ to meet you, Danny. Now, why don't you tell me what's wrong?" The Earl patted him in the back in a surprisingly moderate way. For some reason, Danny felt like he really should talk to the Earl, even though the man looked so outlandish he could have been a ghost (the possibility wasn't scrapped; Millenium Earl sounded like something a ghost would name himself). Strange…

"Why would I? It's not like it matters to you."

"Why not? As you said, it's not like it matters to me, so why don't you let it all out?"

Danny knew there was something wrong with the way the man convinced him, but he was in no state to really think about it. It was the first time he could stop and think what had happened the last few weeks. His family died. His friends d-died… And mr. Lancer too… He felt tears leaking out of his eyes and cursed himself. He thought he had grown out of that phase, but now he had his doubts about that.

"They, they died…"

If Danny had been looking at the Earl when he said that, he had seen that smile of his grow even bigger, and that his glasses showed a hint of the insane eyes behind them. The Earl had luck on his side this time!

"So you want to see them again?"

"That's not possible." Was the answer, despite that he really wanted to.

"It is. I have the means of letting them see you one more time. But only one of them, I can't do more than that, how much it pains me."

That didn't matter much to Danny, he wanted to see them again. But for some reason, he still had his doubts.

_Ask him how._

"How are you going to do that?"

The Earl conjured up his Akuma skeleton, the pentagon glistening in the moonlight.

"With this! This will house the soul of your dead loved ones, and it will bring them back long enough for you to talk to each other, after which you will have to say goodbye again. It's a one-time chance, unique."

This seemed too good to be true. Yes! He wanted to see them again, even if it was just one of them, and tell them how much he loved them, and whatever secrets he had withheld from them. And now it seemed that was possible! He smiled. He would tell them about those times he hadn't been able to share with them because he was a ghost at that time, or tell them about the wacky inventions his dad had never shown them, or -

_But how does it work?_

"How does that work?" Danny asked, his eyes still in his memories.

"I don't know, I found it, and noticed it could do this. Then I decided to help others with this, to help them become better, and it has never failed me since."

Danny smiled. This man was obviously some saint or something.

"I can imagine it didn't. Although I don't believe you've found it. I believe you _made_ it, Earl."

A green blast was fired from the right and hit the akuma skeleton full force, which was utterly destroyed. Danny's head snapped to the right in fury. The one chance he had to see one of his family or friends again and it was taken from him, just like his family and friends themselves were. Destroyed in a blast. He knew who was behind this, and this time, Danny would not run. Dan had gone too far!

The Earl looked to the right too, and saw Dan. The upper half of his body was enshrouded in shadow, leaving only his red eyes and fiery hair discernible.

"And who might you be?" The Earl said, his grin unwavering.

"I'm the one who will rule the world. Or rather, that kid will be." Dan grinned evilly, so his tooth were now visible along with his eyes and hair.

"So, naturally, you don't get to make an akuma out of him." Danny's head whipped back at the earl. An akuma? That monstrous… thing?! His eyes glowed green in anger. The Earl noticed this, of course.

"Ooh, interesting." His smile widened again, and some part of Danny's mind was wondering if he was even able to not smile. "And _what_ are you then, if I may ask?"

"I don't tell people my secrets, it may come back to, ah… _haunt _me when I decide to dispose of them." Danny couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes, which in turn drew the Earl back to the unnatural glowing of the eyes, and fascinated him even further.

"Interesting… Why don't you join me for dinner at my home for the evening" The Earl proposed.

"Uh, isn't it a bit late for that?" Danny blurted out.

"It's never too late for a late dinner. Now, what do you say?"

"No!" Danny shouted at the same time as Dan said "Sure." Danny looked at Dan in disbelief.

"What? Now that you got stuck here, I have no idea how I should influence you to become me… Yet. And while I wait, for you _will_ become me, why not make it interesting?" Dan smirked as he poked at the Earl.

"But, he tried to make me an akuma!"

"And he's obviously gonna try again during dinner." Dan's voice was full of sarcasm. "That's why he invited you. Now, come."

_Just go with him._

Danny discarded the voice in his head. "No! I'm not coming."

"Are you really sure about that, Danny?" The Earl asked, a slight disappointing tone in his voice.

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Okay then. Come along, Mr…?"

"Dan. Dan Phantom. And I must warn you, I get bored easily." Dan smirked at Danny as if he shared some secret with Danny, and suddenly Danny saw visions of the horrible future he had seen, a future destroyed by Dan.

"Oh, don't worry, we have enough ways of relieving boredom." The Earl was still grinning, and Danny realised that in terms of insanity, the Earl might even be above Dan.

He wanted to go far away, away from Dan and the Earl, but he realised that they had just triggered his Hero Complex. He knew Dan had planned it so, but he didn't know if the Earl was helping him. And frankly, that was bad. The earl and Dan together, that would be the destruction of humanity. He couldn't let that happen, even if he had to go with them to ensure it. He sighed, and stood up.

Dan looked backwards as he saw that Danny was following them. Good. This Earl seemed like a right maniac, with no regard for life. How lucky he was, to have found such a psychopath here. He had also succeeded into taking Danny with him, and now he would just have to wait as his and the Earl's influences corrupted him and made his job easier. The only problem was ensuring that the Earl wouldn't become a threat. He would have to time that just right, so that Danny would be corrupted enough and the Earl wouldn't be able to become a danger. But for now, he had succeeded in this part of the plan.

* * *

_**Hello! Tell me what you thought of it, yeah? It helps with motivation, and let's me know when I make mistakes**_

_**No.311**_


	5. Chapter 5: The Ark

_Chapter Five: The Ark_

* * *

"Impressive" Dan whistled at the colossal structure floating some distance before him. The Earl nodded in agreement and approval.

"I don't get it. How is that an ark?" Danny didn't quite see it yet. "It looks like a Rubik's Cube."

The Earl chuckled mischievously. "No, that's just its coating. It looks quite different on the inside, believe me."

Danny eyed the Earl suspiciously, but said nothing. On the trip to the ark, he had tried to find out just how bad the Earl was, but other than some weird chuckles and random expressions here and there he had failed to find out anything. Which was bad, because that meant that Danny couldn't gauge the Earl's level of dangerousness. And he would be stuck with the Earl as long as Dan was with the Earl, because no way in hell would he leave those two without any kind of supervision. The world would end before night fell if he left them to their plans. Well, Dan, at least.

Suddenly, he was forcibly reminded to check the wound on his forehead as soon as possible because it started stinging. He hoped this ark had a bathroom.

They came at some sort of light door, with a number on it. It looked like it could have been beamed down from any kind of Sci-fi movie, really out of place in the century he currently resided in.

"Welcome to my humble abode" the Earl announced while he bowed deeply in a mock bow. "May I take your hats?" It could have been funny if the earls eyes didn't have that glint of madness. Dan had no trouble with that, however: He also wasn't quite right in the head.

"Certainly, if you'd please." Dan laughed. He materialized a top hat of ectoplasm, and aimed it at the Earl, who smoothly dodged it, to fall to the ground a few metres behind him and form a small crater.

Danny resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and followed behind the two into the ark. His jaw fell open. He hadn't expected a full ghost town, no people in sight. He marvelled at the sight for a few moments, asking himself why the Earl would need something like this, before snapping out of it, and look around for his host and his future self, sorry, ex-future self. They were nowhere in sight.

(+++++++)

Danny had been walking around for a while (he didn't dare to go ghost and fly, too risky) when he finally had a bit of luck: He found a person. Yes, he had a grey skin and looked completely out of place in this abandoned town in a floating fortress with his full suit get-up, but Danny didn't mind. As long as he knew the way to the dinner and to a bathroom, he was perfect. He walked towards the man.

"Ah, hello? Do you happen to know where I can find the Earl? Or a bathroom?"

The man raised his eyebrows in surprise, like he didn't expect to meet anyone here. Which, in hindsight, made sense.

"Well, yes, of course. Follow me, I'll show you." Danny followed the man.

"Thank you…?"

"Tyki, Tyki Mikk." The rest of the way they stayed quiet, apart from the occasional remark. Until they arrived at a not too shabby house.

"You can find a bathroom in here."

Danny nodded to Tyki as a thank-you, and dived in the house. He found the bathroom without too much trouble, and looked around for some bandages, which he found, strangely enough. Why would there be bandages in a ghost town? But he wasn't about to complain. He took off his old bandages. His wound, instead of scabbing over, had developed in a cross-like form, blood still dribbling out of it. He made a mental note to look into it later, but now he just redid the bandages with skill gained from practice from back when he still lived in Amity, and went outside.

Tyki was still there. "Done?"

"Yes, thanks again."

Tyki began moving again, and Danny followed him. After some time, Tyki decided to kill the silence.

"What did you do to get such big bandages around your head?"

"I had a run-in with a rock."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, it was. I passed out from blood loss some time later. Luckily, someone found me."

"The Earl?"

"No, he was called Allen. White hair, weird scar."

"I see." Tyki grimaced. He had met this 'Allen', and he was stripped of his clothes as a consequence when he had done the same to one of Allen's mates. Luckily he had been able to get his clothes back.

"How did you meet the Earl then?"

Now it was Danny's turn to grimace. "He almost succeeded in making me an akuma."

"Okay, but how come you're here? The Earl doesn't exactly invite everyone he fails to convert to dinner." Although he almost never failed.

Danny raised one eyebrow. "So I'm special, huh."

"Yeah, seems like it, but why?"

"That's personal." Danny wondered how long his secret would stay a secret, with Dan present. It was like having a gigantic sign hanging above him with 'ghost powers' on it.

"I see." Danny couldn't see the slightly sadistic smile that appeared on Tyki's face. He was going to have so much fun in finding out that secret!

(+++++++)

After they had lost (or ditched) Danny, the Earl and Dan had made their way to the dinner table. They were the first to arrive. This presented a great opportunity to the Earl; he doubted that he and Dan would be alone a lot. So he decided to use it.

"Tell me, Dan. Are you a fan of dressing-up? I love it, you should see my hat collection!" The Earl giggled a little. He accepted the cup of tea an akuma maid brought to him and Dan.

"Well, no. I see it as vitally important to have a fear-inducing costume to live up to my name. Dan's my name, destruction is my game, you understand?" Dan sipped his tea, without the smile leaving his face.

"Such a shame. Though you haven't really destroyed much since I met you, haven't you." The Earl glasses glinted.

"No, I didn't. I wouldn't endanger myself after all."

"Ah! How so?"

"That's a good question, but not one I'm going to answer, I'm afraid." Dan sipped his tea again.

"You're not _alike_ much, you and Danny. You said he will be you?"

Dan's smile slipped of his face, to be replaced with a look of displeasure.

"Yes, he will… But the future has taken turns were it hadn't before, and now I'm in a predicament I have never been in before. I'm still here, though, so he will become me. How that will happen, I'm not so sure."

"No, I mean power wise. He doesn't display too much power, unlike _you_."

"That's by choice. He does have it, he just has a human form to cover it up, one I discarded as soon as I realized how worthless it was."

"I see." The Earl sipped his tea, and thought of another question to ask, when he heard a knock on the door.

"Ah, it seems the others are here." The Earl stood up and went to the door.

* * *

_**Has been a while, hasn't it. I think a good few reviews may help motivate me. Also, if you have comments or didn't like it, don't just close the window, tell me why first. It's, amongst other things, a learning experience for me.**_

_**No.311**_


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